People Are Really Upset That Serena Williams Won SI’s Sportsperson Of The Year

Even after the woman who is arguably the greatest tennis player in the world was awarded Sports Illustrated’s Sportsperson of the Year, the haters continued their campaign of derogatory comments against Serena Williams.

To make matters worse, horse racing fans are upset over Williams’ latest accolade, saying the Triple Crown winner American Pharoah was “snubbed.”

On Tuesday’s edition of NewsOne Now, Roland Martin and the discussion panel talked about social media’s portrayal of Williams and the visceral reaction to her success.

NewsOne Now panelist Christy Winters-Scott told Martin a horse should not have won SI’s Sportsperson of the Year.

“You have to look at the collective body of work that Serena Williams has put together — 53-3 on the year, almost made the Grand Slam — the evolution of Serena Williams has really been something to watch over the course of her career. And the last five years in particular, I think her health has been an issue, but she has battled through that and still persevered and remained at the top of her game.

“You have to honor and respect someone like that,” Winters-Scott said.

Martin, Host of TV One’s NewsOne Now, pointed out that when Venus and Serena Williams first stepped onto the tennis scene, the sport was “White, it was elitist and they were not happy to see these two Black girls from Compton.”

He added that although tennis “desperately needs them,” the sport “doesn’t want to fully embrace them.”

Winters-Scott replied to Martin’s statement: “It’s a shame because of what she [Serena] has been able to do, and I think the more success someone has, the more haters come on board.”

“Especially for African-American females, I think it’s really tough to gain the amount of respect that’s due. So with Serena and Venus … for both of them, they have really changed the way we view females in sports collectively, not just in tennis, but in basketball and everything else,” said Winters-Scott.

Watch Martin, Winters-Scott, and the NewsOne Now panel discuss Serena Williams being named Sports Illustrated’s Sportsperson of the Year in the video clip above.